Mitchell County public health: new small grants, summer event reach and fall clinics announced

Mitchell County public-health staff updated the Board of Supervisors on June 23 about new grant activity, results from a recent summer kickoff event and upcoming public-health services for the fall.

Staff said they secured two awards through an FMC (Floyd-Mitchell-Chickasaw) funding opportunity: one to expand free car-seat distribution and checks and one to support a future summer kickoff event. In reporting metrics from this year’s kickoff, staff said they completed 23 car-seat checks and distributed 14 car seats, provided 119 bicycle helmets, supplied four Narcan kits at the event, served roughly 600 free hot-dog meals and estimated more than 1,000 attendees participated across activities.

Public-health staff also described regional public-health alignment under a new district structure. They said a lead-entity request for proposals (RFP) is expected in August and that district partners are preparing to coordinate core services, including chronic-disease prevention, communicable-disease control, environmental public health, emergency preparedness and maternal-child health.

Looking ahead, staff announced plans for fall radon-kit distribution and mitigation information, and said the department will run walk-in back-to-school vaccination clinics in August. Staff also described a telehealth-tablet initiative being pursued through a Combat Cancer grant in partnership with Marion County Public Health to increase access to telehealth services in rural locations.

Public-health staff closed by inviting questions and said more details will be shared when grant timelines and the district RFP are finalized.